RPlog:Skirmish at Larni
A Dance of Death ((As performed by starfighter pilots)) Raptor 3, Wolf's new fighter. He had just been given it as a sort of gift from the Admiral, as he thought anyway. It could be just for getting back into the works as a senior officer again. "Nothing on sensors yet." A whisper came through the comms from one of his wingmen. Wolf was leading a couple of squadrons on the Ord line, making sure no Rebel activity crossed over into Imperial Space. He felt a little different with a couple of wingmen then the rest of a squadron behind him, it was something they had started implimenting to higher officers in the field. Though Rall was on the field, he wanted to be on her wing. "Keep tight formation, remember to use your eyes as well as your scanners." he whispered into the comms to all the TIEs patrolling. One of the more tedious requirements of Admiral Rall's new position was to inspect and review the actions of her sector chiefs. This was a standard boarder patrol yet there was a high chance of a run in with the rebel skirmishers. Dana had chosen this group to inspect because they were being led by a pilot she knew well. Commander Wolf had been a thorn and a rose at various times in his time in the Corps, Dana was out here to see which version was controlling the stick. In her own fighter the pilot know as Vapor watched the tight formation of TIES As was her mark since taking command of Viper Squadron, Lord Korolov had ordered her fighter painted and it was easy to pick out on the field, the TIE was stark white. On her wing was her squadron mate from Viper, call sign Boomer he was a tough nut and a steady stick. It was like a class reunion out here. 'Boomer' glances down at his display, keeping his leader in his forward port sector. He keys several of his switches, allowing his interceptor to match his leader's speed. Once that is set he begins focusing his attention between the fighter's short range scanners and keeping a visual look out for the telltale signs of approaching rebel vessels. He reaches down with a hand and adjusts the O2 level on his rebreather. These long patrols could often wear down a pilot, a little shot of pure O2 every now and then would keep him alert and ready for action. (Korolov) In the cockpit of Ghost 7, Captain Kesander Beysarus lets his eyes shift from visual to monitoring his scopes to checking his system status readouts. Hitting his comlink, the Corellian transmits to the whole of Ghost Squadron: "Don't fall asleep on me people. Keep your eyes peeled. We could run into anything out here. Don't ignore your long range sensors. Flight leaders report in; let me know what you're seeing. Sandman, over." From the cockpit of Ghost 3, Raxis "Raptor" L'ygr carefully speeds along ahead of the Corvette alongside his wingman "Turtle". Wide awake amid a rash of bad patrol incidents, Raxis isn't about to convince himself that this patrol would be any different. Having been sufficiently ambushed on 2 patrols in the last few months, Raxis' tail is getting rather sore, and he's finding it hard not to be agitated. "Ghost Seven, this is Raptor," He chimes in looking to the vision of a far off large asteroid. A cold sweat runs down the back of his spine as he remembers a patrol where he lost Lance almost for good. "We've got an astral body up ahead. Decent sized rock probably a class 2, permission to scout it, over?" Keline has been watching the sensor date as Vextin has been speaking, her arms folded across her chest, before she turns to him and shakes her head. "We haven't found anything yet, but the sweep of the sector isn't finished yet. We'll jump when the scan is complete..if it means less hassle later from the higher ups the work now is worth it." "Comms free." Wolf said, staring right out his front viewport at the squadrons approaching the asteroid. He keyed in all imperial ships including the 'mothership', "Hostiles spotted, Engage at will." Wolf flicked up his throttle and sent his TIE into full speed towards the incoming fighters, "TIEs, You guys know the drill." Wolf's comm chatter wasn't exactly military. He didn't believe in all that while flying, it was easier to just talk to the squadron as a whole and give orders directly. They knew his voice and noone complained. It was time to test his fighter in real combat, this time his Callsign and name was painted in design on one side of his fighter. He had decided to show the Enemy who he was. He had no fear, he was an Imperial officer and was there to get the job done. Warming up his cannons he was ready for them, no suprises for them this time. Picking up the approaching rebels Jal'Dana opens up her communication unit to her wingman, "Boomer, we're going to engage from the side of the formation. Let Wolf's group be the main focus." They were still hidden by the asteroids, but Wolf's aggressive stance would give away that advantage. The smirk lasted only a second, he was in old form, and then back to business. Checking her shield status and transferring power to weapons her TIE is performing in the proper ranges, it was good to have knuckle draggers you could trust. "Commander Wolf, we'll be covering your flank, you have the main battle line. We'll pick up the stragglers" Her raspy voice was even keel and unwavering as always in battle. Slipping into a wide turn, Boomer was flying so close to her it was like one ship. On Jal'Dana HUD the enemy forces were highlighted as well as the locations of friendlies. The woman shifted a bit in her shock couch and the adjusted her laser sights. 'Boomer' lets off a little on his throttle, allowing the lead fighter to gain a little distance. He reaches down and flicks a switch, his sensors change from scanning to combat. The interior ships lights flick ut and switch to a dull red glow, "Bringing blasters to 100 percent. Shields set to full. Reducing throttle to combat speed. Awaiting the weapons free order." The veteran pilot curls his fingers around the yoke, his thumbs resting less than a millimeter from the sensor studs that will trigger the ships blaster cannons to fire. (Korolov) The appearance of a whole host of hostile contacts on Kesander's scopes doesn't go unnoticed, nor does it go more than fleeting seconds before the Corellian hits his comlink, transmitting on the Ghost Squadron tactical channel: "Ghost Squadron, Bandits, bandits! Comming in at...11 o'clock just above the ecliptic plane. Lots of targets people. I want tight squadron combat tactics, attack pattern theta, leads and wingmen cover each other close. Cut 'em off, set 'em up and knock 'em down. We're gonna keep those bastards off of audacity. Tally ho, people. Good hunting." "Oh you've got to be kidding m..." Raxis mutters to himself as he checks into his comm and opens chatter to the squadron. He quickly taps his helmet twice for good luck. "Turtle fall to defensive cover. Ghost 4, stay with me. Ambush. Going in..." Raxis calls out over the comm as he pulls back on his flight stick and banks to face 11 o' clock high. In a familiar roll pattern, Raxis rushes to meet the opposition with an evasive approach, included with his familiar series of barrel rolls. Opening fire on the forward leader, he holds his breath and pulls the trigger. "Ghost 4 here, on your wing Raptor." The Dug's voice is easily picked out over coms in general, his accent heavy though his basic is flawless. The X-wing rolls into formation and falls in on the wing of Raxis, opposite of Turtle. He remains evasive, but as Raxis opens fire, Shovadu rolls Ghost 4 once to the left, and lets loose a volley before shifting back over to the wing of his flight leader for the day. "One Marauder class Corvette and Ghost Squadron." Wolf said, keying up the Emancipator, "It's heading towards the belt with support infront, I don't pick up anything larger in the vicinity." He smiled as another transmission from Rall's fighter came in, the woman had been on his back for many things but the one thing he welcomed was her presence on the battlefield, he didn't reply, she knew what he was thinking. Flying straight at the X-Wings, the red glow of their fire began to streak towards him, "Break." he said to his wingmen and they were already doing so, rolling nicely out of the way, Wolf on the otherhand pulled back on the stick and sent his fighter sailing up, as he did so a small scratch found it's way onto his fighter. Twisting his fighter around he aimed back and returned fire from the volley that hit him. "Take prisoners, ISB made a small joke about more meat, I say we give it to them." He said, angrily fingering the trigger sending the green streaks towards ghost 4. The distinct shape of the TIEs was there advantage. The solar fins had been bent and elongated into a "dagger" shape. This increased the surface area to provide more collected power, while actually keeping the pilot's wide field of vision. This also reduced the craft's profile, making it much more difficult to target. These factors would be key in shaping exactly how the Admiral flew her craft. "Weapons free" Jal'Dana radioed to her wingman. "They have spotted us" The flanking movement had brought Vapor and Boomer towards the center rear of the Rebel formation, the X-wings would be faced with a battle on two sides of them. The lead X-wing was opening fire into the main formation. It was time to welcome them all to the party. She marked ghost 3 on her HUD as a target of interest, she knew that pilot and his moves. When the time was right she would engage him. Jal'Dana linked up her laser cannons to fine as two and two. Squeezing the trigger Cannons 1 and 3 fire, then 2 and 4 at the trailing fighter that had slowed from Wolf's hit. 'Boomer' banks his fighter to the right, as Vapor chooses a target for the pair and engages, he locks on as well, manuevering with his lead wing before replying, "Affirmative, makes it easier to kill them when we know where they are." His weapons are fire linked as he depresses the trigger, all four blasters firing in rapid succession as he takes aim at Vapor's target. As the fury of combat begins to explode around Ghost Squadron, Kesander's veteran senses aren't dazzled but yoked firmly to the business of assaulting the enemy. "Spectre Flight, follow me. We've got company at our six o'clock." Leading three additional ships, Sandman peels away to starboard, rolling as he brings his ship about, his flight mates following him. Ghost 8, stay on me." And with this, the Corellian lets the first available TIE float into his site reticle. Thumbing his weapons selector to quad lasers, the Captain fires on what happens to be Rall's ship. "Audacity this is Ghost 3," Raxis begins as the two flights cross eachother in a screaming wall of red and green blasterfire. The space battle unfolds into the beginnings of a furball as the squadrons collide. "No sign of a cap but we've got that rock. White TIE fighter. Repeat. Marked TIE fighter." Raxis calls out over the comm as his wingman is assaulted. "Four! Bank right and meet me around I'll provide covering fire. Watch that crossfire!" He calls out. Banking, Raxis performs an immelman turn and pushes himself hard back into his seat as his X-wing forces its way back into the furball. Taking aim at the White TIE, he flies past with a strafing shot. "Off the dug..." He mutters, not broadcasting over the comm as he fires. The first shot coming the way of Ghost 4 is a solid hit, knocking out the X-Wing's shields. This was not for lack of effort on the Dug's part to roll out of the way, he was just late in his attempt. And then the Dug becomes a bullseye, targetted by all. Bolts wizz by the Dug as he banks right and crosses round Ghost 3 to gain some cover fire, "This is Ghost 4, shields down, but otherwise alright. Working on shield power realignment." And with that, once the Dug evades fire from several TIE's, he rolls off to the right a bit more, firing at the first fighter to land shots on him, loosing another volley of red bolts. The green lances of energy had over shot her target and Jal'Dana was already making the course corrections to make sure that didn't happen again. Bringing her fighter around she absently turns into a line of fire from another ship. Catching the red lasers on her port shields, the system flickers but it hold, only slightly reducing the power. The ship shudders with the impact and Jal'Dana is bounced in her shock couch. Banking back around she bobs her ship and shakes loose of the first fighter as another streams towards her firing and missing wide. "I'm so popular..oh, here is meat" Pressing hard on the foot peddles and jocking the flight controls she rolls her fighter end over she returns fire on the juking X-wing, Ghost 3. Again, just six pounds of pressure on the trigger and the green shot burst from the wingtips. 'Boomer' stays on his lead fighter. As she banks, he does as well, her tie seems to be drawing all the fire and that is fine with him for the moment, no real damage and she could likely shake off the rebels. AS she chooses a new target he sticks with her and adds his volume of laser fire at Ghost 3 as well. "Watch it Vapor. They seem to have you pegged." "Ghost 8, light 'em up," says Kesander encouragingly as he watches his shots hammer the shields of Rall's craft. "Let's stay on 'em'" adds the Corellian, rolling Ghost 7 to maintain his angle of attack on Jal'dana's TIE and that of her wingman. In the manuever, Sandman's site reticle slips from Rall to her wingman's ship. Instinctively, the Corellina squeezes his triggers. "Ghost 3 to Krayt Control, We're managing so far. Any word on the location of that cap?" Raxis muses to himself over the incoming spray of green blasterfire. Giving himself internal commentary beneath the comm, he grimmaces as his shields are hit for a healthy shot. Watching the shield readout strain he mentally curses his luck on patrols. Soon he was going to get a reputation as a magnet. Gritting his teeth in response, Raxis performs his signature move. Rolling his ship upside down, he pulls up on the stick to nose the X-wing downwards into a roll that sends it upwards on the field of battle. Blasting past a hail of green blasterfire intended for him, he continues his ascent. Squeezing through empty places in the furball, the X-wing soon finds itself pushing its nose downwards. Boosting the thrusters he sends the X-wing into a daredevil barreling roll downwards towards the the white TIE fighter, unleashing a spread of deadly blasterfire and silently dedicating it to Alderaan. "Ghost 4 in pursuit, leaving you with Turtle on your wing." This comes over the comms as Shovadu moves in on a TIE fighter not far from the one he had been pursuing. "Remaining in close proximity to your tail Raptor." Just to clarify that he isn't getting far off. The Cadet barrel rolls and dives quickly, before pulling up and loosing yet another volley of red blasts at the indicated TIE fighter. As Wolf breaks hard right, his wing man slips into the fire position, with all his laser linked one giant green wad leaps forth and at his last target hoping to knock the rebel out for good. The X-wing was engaged with him and his shields suffered the direct hit. That was a good sign as for as the pilot felt, his lasers were on their mark. The shots were on target, it was up to the X-wing to get out of the way or die. This time Jal'Dana's shots hit home, scoring on Ghost 3. She had this pilot scouted and was going to stay right on his six, and see if she could push him from the fight or disable him for good. "Meat" as she had dubbed him was going to get a lesson in proper Imperial manors. "I see that Boomer, she what you can do to shake'em off me" Ghost 3 wants on badly and Dana almost wants him to know who he is up against, but soon enough he'll know. Keeping pace with the X-wing was a simple matter of shifting power from side thruster to her main engines. She uses Raxis personal move and arches up the fighter. Again lining up her shot she separates out her laser controls firing each cannon individually. The four shots trail each other by milliseconds apart. 'Boomer' spins as the X-Wing gets on his six and unloads a volley of blaster fire towards his vessel. Three of the four beams miss him, the other impacting and fizzling on his shields as he struggles to stay on Vapor's wing. He banks the yoke hard to the right as he is given the order to shake the tail, putting his fighter into a hard fast turn bringing his blasters around towards the fighter that shot at him, depressing the weapons studs, he unloads a volley of green death towards the wily Republic Fighter Kessander. Mouth agape, Raxis can hardly believe it. He'd seen someone use his personal move against him before, namely once right after he'd used it on a lone Z-95 headhunter he'd met on his patrol. Scowling at another personal blemish on his service jacket. "Krayt Control this is Ghost 3. I believe the White TIE to be Admiral Rall. Repeat. VIP on the field. Attempting to disable, over." Raxis calls out over the comm as he decides to throw away all of his old tactics and fly by the seat of his pants. His moves become erratic, yet hold to the same general style of flying that he'd used all his career. Perhaps a tell that he'd recognized (or believed to recognize) the white TIE, he banks and rolls inwards. Cutting the thrusters he performs a braking slide in an attempt to tighten his turn radius. Finding it a lucky move, he gets a beat on the port solar fin of Jal'Dana's starfighter. The hit lands true from Ghost 4, but not true enough to knock out the TIE's shields entirely. The mass of green fire coming the Dug's way results in a quick nose dive, accompanied by a barrel roll to the left. The result is a miss, indeed this pilot decided that he didn't want to die just yet. "Ghost 4 still in pursuit, good firing position...Shields still down." The comms cut off after that transmission and the Dug pulls up on the TIE fighter's 6, loosing another rapid succession of blasts. Wolf's wingman was too busy trying to focus on his shields that the shots and they miss wide right grunting to himself and tries to shake the boogie that he picked up. Righting his spinning TIE he picks his target and fires again at the X-wing (Shovadu) with a solid tone and all lit up on his HUD. No wonder meat was shot down with that move last time, it stunk and Jal'Dana even smiled as the shots went wide. "Remind me not to try that stunt again Boomer" Red lasers dance around her ship and she matches the moves that her enemy's X-wing tries to bring at her. Ghost 3's shots go wide and as the snub-nosed fighter screeches past her the TIE responds with a hail of fire. "Well meat, lest see what you have today" "Affirmative Ma'am" Boomer replies to Vapor's coms. He flicks another switch, making slight adjustments to get the X-wing into his firing sights once more. A slight jerk to the right and he has tone, squeezing the firing studs as the small agile fighter trembles releasing four beams of brilliant green light towards his dreaded foe once more, (Kesander). Having dodged one assault from Rall's wingman, the pilot of Ghost 7 is obliged to do so a second time. Fortunately for Kesander, something about the TIE's moving evokes an instinctive reaction in the Corellian and thus Sandman executes a split S manuever that reverses his course and carries him easily away from the hail of green blaster bolts intended to destroy him. Banking hard as he exits the S, the pilot of Ghost 7 once again locks up Rall's wingman in his site reticle and fires on him with quad lasers. After narrowly being hit by a salvo of TIE blaster fire from Jal'dana's ship, Raxis officially feels like a target. Narrowing his eyes, he lowers his brow and goes into his game face. Dodging about through the furball, Raxis performs a series of banks and turns being chased by the the ominous white TIE fighter, unable to shake it. "Ok fine enough of this..." Raxis replies, pulling slightly out of the furball to give him and Jal'Dana some room. Breaking etiquette, he decides a new tactic. "Vee-Ten! Prime a torpedo for a 2 second fuse and ready to drop it at my mark..." He calls out, unable to shake his predator. Opening local channels, he grins to himself as the binary beeping of his droid lets him know the job is done. "Hey Admiral? You're pretty good for a deckwalker...still kept your looks?" He blurts, turning off the local comm channel as he yells at Vee-Ten. "MARK!". Releasing the Proton to float behind him, he fans his S-foils to increase his velocity. Effectively reopening them, he hopes the proton will detonate near her TIE and cause damage as he flies away from the blast radius. "Fox two!" He calls out over his squadron's encoded radio. Shodavu banks right as the TIE's green bolts come his way, managing to just barely dodge those shots, muttering quietly, "Haven't you learned yet, can't touch this Dug." A moment later he flips on his comm, "Roger that Raptor, do you want Four to disengage and lock onto VIP target?" Once this is said, the X-Wing banks back to the left, rotating 20 degrees port before letting loose another volley of red flame at the TIE he's pursuing. Still, he keeps an ear open for orders to move in on the VIP target, though it would be difficult with an enemy already engaged. The Wingman was having no luck but wasn't giving up on his sole target he wanted to score a kill so bad his insides hurt. Desperately weaving his ship in behind the one X-wing that had been sneaking past him time and time again he fired all four laser cannons again hoping fate was on his side this time. (Dana's NPC firing on Shovadu) This was getting them no where fast, it was too congested and too crowed for anyone to get a clean shot off be it Rebel or Imperial pilot everyone was snake bitten and missing. With her wingman damaged it was time to break, for his life was valuable to her and this battle meaningless. Dana was going to press this shot hard and linked up her fire control for one powerful blast, hopefully enough to puncture shields and disable Ghost 3. She wanted to have a 'chat' with Meat. As a torp explodes off her wing, the shrapnel causes light damage to her craft as she flys through it. If the ploy didn't work, she was going to take command of the field and recall the fighters, a Star Destroyer was in the area and she had radioed back to it. "Admiral Rall to the Vindictive, break for bearing 721 mark 229 10 minutes. It's time" Once it joined the fray the field would change, and this skirmish would end. A draw maybe but with No Imperial losses she could live with that. The blasted X-wing keeps elluding the persistant Fighter pilot, As he does a split-S to get away from the more maneuverable Intercepter, 'Boomer' pushes the throttle to the firewall, banking his fighter hard to port, to let his speed and his opponents maneuver bring him right back into the cross hairs of his blaster cannons. Squeezing the trigger, Boomer lets a volley of green lasers arc out at Kessander. "You know, Smokey," says Kesander to his Astromech, "I get the impression this guy doesn't like me." For the third time in less than two minutes, Sandman is obliged to execute a hard manuever to avoid Boomer's green daggers of destruction. A snap barrel roll and a hard bank to port successfully achieves the dodge. However, the Captain does not stop there. The bank continues to turn into a vector roll that's designed to put him on an intercept course with the ship that Audacity has indicated is a priority. As soon as he gets weapons lock on the white TIE, the Corellian squeezes his weapons trigger, sending red hell-fire at Rall's craft. "Copy Krayt, this is Ghost 3. VIP engaged and busy. Turtle, Ghost 4. Break attack and let's bag this VIP. Then, we're going to prepare a run on that corvette." Raxis calls out, twisting and turning through the fight as he and Jal'dana duel outside of the hair ball. Cursing as his ship is partially cooked by a massive salvo from the white TIE fighter, Raxis banks and fights hard to shake her and get a tail. With a bit of hard work, Raxis finally finds himself getting another shot in passing. Taking the opportunity, he opens fire with a rush of red-orange blasterfire, his four wingtips firing in unison to rely on accuracy to score the hit. And finally the almost intangible Dug takes another hit, his first since the one that knocked out his shields. The shot lands on the port thruster controls and causes some minor hull scorching. The worst of it is a short loss of power to the port thrusters, though power is quick reallocated by the astromech droid, and the Dug is able to bank once more, coming round on the attacking TIE, speaking in his Malastare accented voice over the comms "Ghost 4 hit, just a singe. Guess I'm not untouchable afterall." With the new orders, the Dug swings around and punches his turbos to catch up with the VIP target. It's only moments before he is on target and lets loose a hail of blasterfire of his own. It's his hope that his friendly TIE attacker hasn't followed him. "Ghost 4 engaging VIP." With the Vindictive entering the area the TIE squadrons all reform and begin to exit towards the Star Destroyer, they wanted to get out of that ship's vicious firing Arcs. Wolf's Squadron reaches the relative safety fires, just as the gunners open up on all vectors. The laser screen was deadly and very few ships could survive in the hail of energy. Ghost 3 had fired torpedoes at her, which was very unsporting of him and while the light damage was of no real threat, the anti star fighter fire coming from the Vindictive was and that was what sent Jal'Dana and her wing man from the think of it. "All craft regroup on the Vindictive" The Admiral set out her order that same cool raspy tone as she had at the start of the fight. Even withdrawing it seemed her fighter was a favorite target and Ghost 7's shots land harmlessly on her shields Ghost 3 and then a third Ghost. Her ship passes by them all with grace, skill and ease. She was putting on a clinic. As Ghost 3 streaked by, she fired a single shot in parting, just a reminder to himshe was out here and she owned him. 'Boomer' does as ordered, banking towards the Victory-class Star Destroyer. He pushes the throttle to flank speed, leaving the furball behind as he follows Vapor back to the command ship. A few sparks resound over his comm as it's apparent he may have some damage to either his communication or electrical equipment. "Yeah I'...doi- fine I might have a --- in the electr-- --stem." Raxis replies over the comm as his obviously maneuverable X-wing races out of the range of fire and meets back up with the group. Pulling into formation alongside Shovadu and Kesander, Raxis dips his wings and gives a thumbs up from inside his cockpit to let them know he's okay. Ghost 4 breaks contact as ordered and swings back around towards the Audacity, "Ghost 4 taking up positions on the Audacity again. Shields are offline, and my port thrusters are acting up, but all in all I'm operational." "Good work today people," comes the reply from Ghost 7. "Audacity's in one piece, we gave those bastards something to think about, and all our brothers and sisters are coming home alive. That's as much of a success as we can hope for under the circumstances," explains Kesander over the tactical channel. "All ships with battle damage are ordered to put down in Audacity's hangar. All other ships resume escort formation. We will be rotating in for replenishment and rearmament by flight over the next three hours. Sandman, over." "Ghost Th-- opy, retu--ing to Auda---ty" Raxis calls out over the comm, as he tilts his ship and moves into the docking line for the Audacity. Even before landing, Vee-Ten can be seen patching wires from his seat in the rear of his X-wing. "Copy that Sandman, Ghost 4 en route to hangar." comes the reply from the Dug in Ghost 4. It's only a few moments before he is in the hangar, engaging landing procedures. Once set down completely the hatch whines as it opens up and the Dug goes about getting out of the harnesses holding him into the seat. Hide and Seek amid the Heavens ((What those Fleet junkies were doing, instead of dying)) Near the Imperial-Republican border, as a matter of fact almost /at/ the border between the two great powers, the small ship, corvettes in most people's mind, patrol this system for a while before heading off. In all actuality, it is really not worth it, in so much as its strategic importance is concerned, but its Senator had been making waves and someone in FleetCommand did a favour to the government by sending the Audacity patrolling this area before it heads back to hunt some pirates. For the moment, the MArauder-class corvette recently retrofitted, upgraded and decked to the 29s is near the system's fourth planet, its name not worth mentionning, making a show of appearing for the people down below before it heads back off to take care of some real work. The impression, nevertheless, of the bridge crew is one of utter professionalism, particularly since both the CO, a Commander Decar, and the XO, Rasi of course, are on-duty. The Commander occupying the sole command chair of the bridge, Rasi stands beside, and slightly behind the chair in question, looking out over the bridgecrew in question. "Anything on sensors?", he asks of the sensor officer, who after a moment nods, "No Sir, all looks clear." It's quiet aboard the bridge of the HIMS Emancipator. The hum of the onboard computers and equipment fill Vextin Mandor's ears as he looks out the view window at the surface of the asteroid just ahead of them. The Emancipator has positioned herself in the system behind one of the larger asteroids, using the shadow of the asteroid to her concealed from sensors and visual scanning. They have kept strict com silence, being so close to Ord Mantell, the capital of the "Republic," as the TIE squadron detachment ventures out from her "mothership" to perform scans on the near by vicinity. A typical patrol of the Republic-Imperial border, making sure the enemy isn't lurking too close to the home turf while at the same time preparing for a possible invasion of the garbage world, should it ever come. Vextin sighs, adjusting the glasses on his face. He'd much rather be back on Imperial Center, teaching history to students. Why did he join the military again? Behind him, Commander Farswori, CO of the Emancipator, shuffles his feet and steps up closer to the historian-turned-military advisor. "Any word from the squadron?" Vextin asks the commander, turning his head to look at the Commander. "Negative," the commander replies. The TIE squadron had strict instructions; only comm. back to the Emancipator if it detected an anamoly, whether it be a Republic cruiser or the faint traces of ion trails. Didn't matter; anything is worth pursuing. "I don't think we're going to find anything. Nothing of interest, at any rate. Just another dead zone in this endless abyss." Vextin shrugs, not really concerned with the Commander's musings. "We have our duty to do, sir. Beats sitting back at Selene doing nothing all day." Vextin sometimes wonders how he gets caught up in missions like this. He's a historian! The rest of the Emancipator is quiet as the bridge; the gunners are at their stations, idly chatting with their fellow crewmen. The ship's chef is brewing some Corellian Chicken soup, while the engineers are playing a game of sabaac in the engineering bay, their ears open incase the bridge hails them for an emergency. There's not a thought through their minds that they'll soon be engaging some of the best the Republic has to offer. In spite of some of her personality's quirks, Ensign Amelia Hawthorne does little to disrupt the overall image of professionalism set aboard the bridge of the NRCV Audacity. Under the watchful eyes of both senior officers aboard the vessel, even in moments of relative calm, she does her best to keep busy, her fingers relentlessly tapping upon her console's keyboard, bringing up varied images of turbolaser readiness, tractor beam integrity, and of course any contacts designated by the ship's sensor officer, as well as the corresponding confidence attributed to each particular contact. As the sounds 'All Clear' travel across the bridge and into her ears, Amelia only pauses for a split second, before bringing up her notes from the engagement over Almania, and theorizing how she might prepare a firing solution more quickly when placed into such a stressful situation. "Navigator, have us move out of the planet, send Ghost Squadron towards that asteroid belt. Just in case there is something there worth checking.", the command given by the XO, Decar seeing no reason to override the Lt-Commander's commands does not speak for now, focusing instead on the repair reports that have been compiled during the days the Audacity was back in Ord Mantell. Its engines are quick to be warmed upo, and with an imperceptible lurch forward the Audacity begins to accelerate forward though not enough to keep up with the fighters it sends forward. "Status, Ensign Hawthorne, are our batteries ready in case we run into something?" Sitting at the damage control/engineering station of the NCRV Audacity's bridge, Ohao goes through his usual routine leading up to possible combat. This primarily involves checking in with the damage control teams set up in their pre-assigned positions. Having gone through this in drills enough times, it is now becoming second nature to this group of technicians. As he issues last minute orders over his comlink headset, Ohao's eyes are fixed on the display showing ship systems. He pays particular attention to the section showing the hull structural integrity on the port side of the ship, not wanting the damage sustained in their last action to cause any difficulties. Still nothing. Perhaps this sector of space was as dead as he thought. Since they were hiding behind the asteroid's shadow, they couldn't send out sensor bursts themselves; they'll have to rely on the sensor sweeps of the TIE squadron for information. So far, all scopes dead. Sighing, Vextin looks over at the captain, Keline, shrugging his shoulders. "What do you say, Captain? Pull back now? I'm not sure we're going to find anything worthwhile here. Might as well move on to the next sector," he says, moving away from the viewport and towards Keline. They're all unaware that a New Republic corvette was out there right now, its own squadron deploying to accelerate towards the asteroid belt, intending to investigate. While they would be invisible on sensors, a visual close-up by going into the asteroid filed would betray them. But, if the TIE pilots are worth their reputation, they should be able to keep the Ghosts off the Marauder. Not that Vextin is worrying about this yet. No, no, this sector of space is empty. He just needs Keline's authorization to pull back the squadron and make the jump to lightspeed to the next destination, where they'll repeat the process in search for any rebel activity. Amelia frowns as a sudden horde of contacts appear on her screen. Asteroid, high confidence, designation.. pick a number, really. As she hears her CO speak, however, she quickly restores her face to one reminiscent of a Duro, in just how expressive it is. "Sir, it will be difficult, but our batteries are prepared," she replies, keeping her private thoughts to herself. With just so many contacts on her screen, which though large was never really designed for this task, she wonders silently what would be the case if even just one of those asteroids happened to be a powered down, floating vessel operating on backup generators and passive sensors for life support. The thought is quickly disregarded as silly, however, compared to the much more real danger of a smaller vessel, like the Audacity itself, lurking amongst the denser portions of the belt. As but an Ensign, the most junior of the junior Officer ranks beyond that of the virtually non-commissioned Deck Officer ranks, she keeps all objections of just how potentially risky this maneuver is, knowing that she has little to support any objection other than the nagging uneasiness that has been with her since before the Audacity even set out for this patrol. And instead of dwelling on them further, which doubtlessly would have a detrimental effect on her readiness to face off against the very real threats lurking amongst the ghost ships she percieves in the Asteroids, Amelia silently resigns herself to the complicated process of processing the sensory officer's conclusions on fast-moving asteroid trajectory, and working that into firing data to be passed down to the turbolaser stations, to avoid any collisions too large for the particle shields to handle. "Ensign Ostivort, at what efficiency is the Audacity operating at?", Rasi liking to conduct a sort of random pop quiz to confirm that his bridge officers aren't dosing on the job. And barely does he wait for Ohao's answer that he is moving on to his gunner.'s, nodding after a moment, "Alright then.", for a moment considering saying 'Engage, half impulse' to have the ship go faster before a very sickly wrong feeling grabs him. As though the heavens might open up and a large finger come down to squish him. With Ghost Squadron spreading out before the Audacity, the old Marauder-class simply follows in their ion trails, so to speak, waiting for their return with the confirmation that nothing untowards is deteected. Or if necessary, to support them in combat against whatever intruder, and possible enemy is seen. They got the call. Vextin makes his way over to the communications console, listening to Wolf's message. "Rebels..." he says, a bit shocked himself. He really hadn't expected anything out here. Thumbing the communications console transmitter, Vextin leans in to speak. "Commander Wolf, this is Emancipator. Would appreciate it if you let us know what's out there; we're blind for now. How many units, their type, any capital ships, and their coordinates," he says quickly, hoping to get at Wolf before he lost himself in the thick of battle was unable to respond efficently. He had to know what was out there before having the Emancipator expose herself; would be foolish otherwise. For all he knew there was a Republic Star Destroyer lurking about with enough firepower to blow the Marauder into bits. Looking over to Keline, he nods his head. "I suggest full battle alert, ma'am," he says, adjusting his glasses, "but stay put for now. We'll make our move based on what the good Commander transmits us." Able to answer the pop quiz without consulting any of his display screens, Ohao replies with, "Ninety-two percent overall." Having forgotten as usual, he adds a belated, "Sir." He prepares to elaborate on that number with a breakdown of certain systems, their efficiency, and how this can be improved, but he sees that Rasi has gone about with other business. Instead, he turns back to his station and goes over the ship for about the hundredth time in the last half hour. Keline glances over at Vextin before she makes her way over to his console while listening to Vextin's message to Wolf as, while he still speaks, she turns to the weapons officer. "Shields up and charge the weapons but *she turns and gives Vextin an ironic smile*..don't do anything yet. Navigator, begin plotting the quickest possible hyperspace jump." *she turns around and makes her way to the command chair and sits in it.* "We might just have to leave here in a hurry." So many asteroids, so little time before, even at the Audacity's reduced speed, Amelia's calculations become much more serious than they appear to be right now. A particularly large piece of rock slamming into the Audacity, after all, would be able to pulverize the shields with relative ease, and abruptly cancel all of Amelia's efforts of achieving illumination, of any shape or form, save perhaps that of her console exploding and hopefully killing her before the cold vacuum of space can claim her. "If this one is removed..", she whispers to herself, not privy to the same heads up that the Imperial vessel has recieved. And so she continues preparations for entry into one of the most dangerous bodies any ship can enter, silently hoping, uneasily, that she is capable of assessing all of the threats to the Audacity's structural integrity before it happens to be too late. "Red alert, all crew to battle stations.", the Commander says calmly, Flight Control having just informed them of the predicament the Ghost now find themelves in. Rasi braces himself for the upcoming battle, wondering just what it is that is to meet them in the asteroid field. Though it shouldn't, theoritically, be too large, given the ease with which it hid in the asteroid field. "Ensign Ostivort, prepare to have battle teams go to their assigned stations, boost power output to shielding and thrusters for now. I want to see what it is that we are dealing with.", no point in going in guns blazing if they're going to be blown to bits immediately. "Ensign Hawthorne, bring all batteries online, use them to keep any dangerous asteroids clear of us until the enemy is spotteed." "Krayt Control to Ghost Squadron, as soon as enemy capital ship, or ships, is identified, contact us with as detailed a report as possible.", the command coming just as the Marauder moves into the asteroid field. As the red alert klaxons start sounding, the crew simultaneously tenses up and starts going through their memorized actions. At the engineering station, Ohao replies to Rasi's orders with a quick, "Aye, sir." and starts ordering teams into position, ignoring questions such as, "What's going on?" and "Is this just a drill?" As he is speaking, his long fingers start adjusting power levels, draining secondary sections such as the galley and instead sending it to the shields and engines. The information is fed into the computers on the Emancipator's bridge, thanks to Wolf. Twelve X-wings of Ghost Squadron, plus a Marauder-class Corvette... the same as theirs. Smirking, Vextin taps a few buttons on the nearby console to bring up the information in more detail, displaying the Audacity's coordinates in real-time, fed in by the TIE squadron's sensors. "We have a sensor lock on them. They're entering the asteroid field, they're within weapons range," he says, turning to Keline. With the Marauder's starboard side facing the asteroid, only two of her double turbolaser cannons would be able to face the Audacity, while they would be in the range of two of their fore double turbolaser cannons, once they revealed themselves. Fortunately, the Emancipator had the element of surprise and the coordinates of the Audacity as it moved through. "Feed their coordinates to the gunners, Captain," he says, perking up a bit. "I suggest we ambush the Audacity now; she's in the field and vulnerable. We move out from our cover and immediately open up with our starboard cannons; meanwhile, I suggest we have the tractor beam operators attach on to nearby asteroids and have then sent towards the Audacity. Either ram her or impede her path." He looks to Keline as he says all this, hoping she and the rest of the crew act quickly while the element of surprise was still fresh. They could hit the Audacity hard now while still avoiding a heavy counter-attack, going back into cover. "I suggest the fore gunners open up on the asteroids over there," he says, pointing to a spot on the tactical display. "It should spray enough debris into their area to help impede their maneuvering capabilities." In a twist of irony, and perhaps a homage to a quote lost in the passage of time, the only thing Amelia truly seems to have feared was fear itself, for as soon as the hostiles appear on the Audacity's scopes, her purpose in this segment of the journey becomes perfectly clear, and her nerves bond together in unity, as though cortosis ore being thrown into the path of a lightsaber. Sending off what she has of the asteroid-clearing routines to the gunnery stations, along with a quick note that the demolition of indigenous obstacles is to be considered a tertiary priority in the absence of an imminent collision, Amelia immediately begins to work through the new data coming to her, but realizes after a few seconds that this situation would be a mathematical nightmare for most supercomputers, much less a mere fleshbag such as her. Drawing back to her experiences over the past week, she recalls the conversation she had with a woman in the Cheapside Saloon, Miss.. Stranger without a name, as far as Amelia knows. When the conversation had strayed onto the subject of the effects of alcohol, the woman had informed Amelia that while drinking, one might feel more willing to do something they subconsciously want than they would if their prudent, rational mind were to intervene. "That's it," the Ensign whispers in triumph, at the exact moment that she stops trying to make sense of literally hundreds of sensor contacts moving around at once, and types up another quick note to the gunnery stations. "ADVISORY: All indigenous obstacles are now considered Class Two threats. Objects threatening imminent collision are to be considered as high priority targets to be eliminated with prejudice," the text reads, as it flashes upon the displays of gunnery stations around the ship. So quick a change in orders doubtlessly must be bewildering to the crews themselves, but owing to the fact that many of them have been stationed aboard the Audacity much longer than Amelia, they don't appear to be fazed in the least. Clicking her com subnetwork to life, Ensign Hawthorne addresses the gunners aloud as a follow-up. "Commence firing with discretion," is all she is able to manage, so many responsibilities passing through her station in a period of time counted in but seconds. Keline began to deliver orders as the Audacity and it's fighters made their appearance, listening to Vextin as she does so, as she comes to stand behind the weapons officer. "Start firing at the capital ship...try to take out their communications so they'll have trouble working with their fighters." *she turns to look over at Vextin, pausing to listen to his suggestion, before she nods and glances at the helsman. "Begin moving the asteroids. Start now." "Ensign Hawthorne, divert as much power as possible from the other batteries to the forward canons, fire a volley at the Impeirlas. If possible, target the tractor projectors and try to get them out of commission.", he does not know, per se, what the Imperial might be trying. But to try and have the enemy bombarded with asteroids sent their way with nudges of a tractor beam is a tactic he would use himself. And given that the Emancipator is presenting to them her side so open, or close to that anyway, he might as well take advantage of it. "But make certain that any asteroid that gets close to us, or within our path is blasterd to bits." "Ensign Ostivort, deploy the damage control teams, we'll take a pounding from those asteroids, they might as well get to the structurally weak, and risky areas of the Audacity." And finally the last command is given by the Audacity's CO to the navigator, keep us mobile, Lieutenant. I do not want to make an open target to either stray asteroids or the Imperials.", and with that, the Audacity begins to increase its speed, maneuvarability going up at the same rate as it tries to dodge both oncoming fire and asteroids while trying to gain the upper hand as far as it comes to maneuvering. Without peeling his eyes off of the viewscreen that displays the battle, Rasi whispers under his breath, "Here's hoping I don't get thrown around ike a ragdoll.", when he continues, his voice has risen to a suitable tone, "Krayt Control to Ghost Squadron, how goes the battle, and do you require extraction or aid?" Talking into his headset while trying to keep an eye on whatever is happening outside the ship, Ohao turns in his seat. He says to his teams, "Okay, deploy into position set seven. Asteroids are near, so suits secure. Bridge out." Looking back to his displays, Ohao breathes in deeply, knowing that the next several minutes (possibly hours?) were going to be pretty rough on this ship. The Emancipator has sprung her trap; the Marauder corvette moves out from behind her asteroid cover, hopefully surprising the Audacity by appearing from behind the asteroid. As per Keline's orders, the starboard double turbolaser cannons open fire on the incoming Corvette. The tractor beams, two at the fore and two at the rear, lock on to nearby asteroids capable of being tractored. As the fore cannons open fire on other nearby asteroids, spraying debris in all corners, the tractor beam operators use their captured asteroids to maneuver them through space towards the Audacity. Whether to just hamper their movements or to hurt their shields, the asteroids are "flung" at the Audacity. Vextin watches as this progresses, smiling thinly to himself. "We've hit them, Captain; I suggest we duck behind cover again," he says, referring to the asteroid they had been hiding behind in the first place. "Then we'll come out and about again, an attack again from a different angle." If he could, he would order the TIEs to divert their attention to the Audacity, stafe her as best as they could; but with the X-wings out there, they couldn't it. Amelia shakes as the end product of Imperial corvette's starboard turbolasers slam into the Audacity. Most of the damage, thankfully, is absorbed by the shields, but a weakened version of one of the shots does manage to get through, cutting into the hull dangerously close to the communication's array that had been the original target. Almost as soon as the damage is done, however, the presumably equal cycling of the shields due to the risk of both flanking and collision in the asteroid field begin to recover, with the damage so far being largely superficial. Except, perhaps, to anyone with a duty station anywhere near where the blast landed. Even before the damage takes place, the Audacity's guns begin firing all around, breaking up a number of smaller asteroids as per Amelia's instructions, quickly forming a sheen of projectiles in the immediate vicinity of the Audacity, for the moment, doubtlessly posing a serious navigational hazard to any vessel lacking capital-scale particle shields. Lacking both the time and the ability to effectively calculate a return firing solution at the newly-revealed Imperial corvette in the midst of so much chaos, Amelia acknowledges Rasi's new orders with a simple 'Sir'; fairly typical of her in a situation requiring her to take on her career's role. Quickly, she types up another notice, this time to the engineering sector, requesting spare power from the side and guns be diverted toward the forward tubrolaser stations. Rather than go about calculating a firing arc to hit the HIMS Emancipator's tractor beams, however, she quickly calculates a solution for their sensor array. A small grin forms at Amelia's face, in spite of the fact that she is essentially disregarding a critical part of her orders, for if the opposing vessel's sensors can be brought down or damaged, it will be dead in the water, risking collisions no matter whether it moves or stays in place. "TARGET: Vertigo-01 Sensor Subsystems for forward stations. All other stations are to fire only in the event of imminent collision with indigenous obstacles," another message is quickly sent out to the gunnery stations, along with suitably accurate calculations for how to make Amelia's vision a reality, at least given how rushed they are. Only four seconds after the message is recieved, the forward guns let loose with all their firepower toward the opposing vessel, and brilliant arcs of light streak ever closer to its sensors. Keline watches the weapons officer's console, her eyes straving to the viewport from time to time, as she turns to look at the helsman. "Take the ship behind the asteroid...weapons officer, target several of the asteroids and destroy them..perhaps it will confuse their sensors enough for to us to surprise them. Helsman, take us under the asteroid rearward of them and aim for their engines..open fire when you have a target." "Krayt Control to Ghost 3.", Rasi replies, immediately patched through to the pilot, "Enemy primary capital ship identified as a Marauder-class. New orders Ghost Squadron, you are to do all possible to isolate and disable, or destroy the fighter identified as possibly belonging to Admiral Rall. Within reason, do not let yourselves killed, but consider this a secondary priority of this mission. I want that fighter disabled and reeled in.", after all, the Senator and the entire Senate will be quite pleased to have an Admiral in their hands.. With that said, Rasi turns to his gunchief, "Ensign, begin firing controlled bursts at all asteroids near the edge of the large one used for cover by the Imperials. As soon as they appear from whichever side they appear, send the debris fragments flying towards them. They wish to keep hidden behind that asteroid, fine, let them be pinneed there as the Ghosts go about their job. And if there are any batteries that can't be used to litter up that large asteroid, clear any and all indigenous objects from around us." At this point, the Ghosts have the primary task of this small group, an Admiral being just as important as disabling or destroying the Imperial Marauder. "Ensign Ostivort, I want no risks whatsoever coming to that communication array, understood? I want all channels opened and kept opened to the Ghost Squadron." With his console blinking in nearly every color, Ohao starts coordinating the repair effort. Following one quick glance at his main display, he starts issuing orders, "Okay, Alpha standby on deck one, section six. Beta take deck one, section ten. Echo, standby at comm four, possible target." There is a short pause as a question comes in over his earpiece. He replies with, "Possibly. You may need to re-route through a sensor pallet. That comes from the CO. He wants communications open, so we will keep communications open." The concentrated attack from the Audacity, moments before the Emancipator was able to go back for cover, break through the shields and hit against the sensor array; the sensors are damaged, and the sensor displays flicker on and off, static turning up in some places on the screen. The sensors remain intact, for now, however, though that may not be the case for long. Cursing under his breath, Vextin watches as the Emancipator ducks down again behind the asteroid, hiding behind the asteroid momentarily before coming underneath it as per Keline's orders. The Emancipator moves out from underneath the asteroid, her bow pointing upwards at the Audacity. Her fore double turbolaser cannons open fire, the launched asteroids just about making their way to the Audacity by this time. "Sensors have been hit... we might lose them any minute. We'll be sitting ducks in this asteroid field." Perhaps it would be best to plan an escape? Their TIEs weren't fairing so well, and once those X-wings were unleashed upon the Corvette, things would get messy very easily. Keline frowns as she watches the sensor screen begin to flicker in response to the damage from t he barrage before she turns to the helsman. "Bring us about on a heading away from them..weapons officer, fire at their engines while we still have the chance..if we can slow them down or disable them or all the better. Helsman, use the most expeident escape plan possible. *Lastly she glances to Vextin.* "Order the fighers to begin to withdrawl back to the ship. Amelia says nothing in response to Rasi's new instructions, instead watching her sensor display like a hawk for the Emancipator's return. In the brief period before it emerges, she prepares another message, this time to the tractor control stations, much in the way of Rasi's instructions. "TARGET: Vertigo-01 Hull by forward tractor stations. Forward guns are to attempt suppression of Vertigo's comm array. Commence when visible." A bit longer a message than normal, to be sure, but one that only has a split moment to be interpretted before the Emancipator emerges once more, and fires toward the Audacity's engines, though it remains to be seen whether or not the shots are effective, given the difficult angle neccesary for such a shot as the Audacity continues to advance. The NR vessel's guns open up once more, but this time are quickly followed by tractor beam emissions. Vextin sighs and looks over at Keline. They were stuck in the tractor beam now. Not much more that they could do. "Just hit her with everything we got... maybe we'll get lucky and hit the tractor beam projector. Call back the surviving TIE units, order them to pull back from the X-wings and harass the Audacity as much as possible; get her from all sides, her shields will be overtaxed." But there's really not much more Vextin can do; he's a historian, afterall, and honestly not the best at naval tactics. Or perhaps his opponent was just vastly superior. It would only be a matter of time before the X-wings and their proton torpedoes finished them off. He looks to Keline, the captain of the boat. "Your suggestions, Captain?" Keline has the look of one who is it not going to give up as she turns to the weapons officer. "Shut down the tractor beam emitters; transfer the power to the engines. We'll try to out run them; order the fighters to return and dock with us. Weapons to provide covering fire for them while they dock..no fancy moves, just keep the enemy fighters distracted while we make our escape." "Krayt Control to Ghost Squadron, status on hunt for starfighter suspected of belonging to Admiral Rall?", Rasi sends through the comm towards the X-wings, asking those monitors of that fight to display on a nearby, spare console he walks towards. "Report.", the man says, turning to the bridge crew as the Commander begins to issue that do not much matter. Shields having taken a pounding during the fight, and seeing as how the Imperials seem to be retreating, the XO addresses his gunchief, and for the time being tactical advisor. "Ensign Hawthorne, do you recommend retreating from the asteroid field and calling for a task group to come replace us?" The sensors fail on the Emancipator. She won't be able to navigate her way safely out of the asteroid field. She's a sitting duck, trapped here by the rebels. Sighing, Vextin resigns himself to his fate. There's nothing more that he can do. Tapping the communicator, he opens a direct line with the Audactiy. "Rebel corvette, this is Vextin Mandor of the Emancipator. We request that you cease fire. We surrender." From the engineering console, Ohao has been keeping one eye on the battle, as usual. It appears to him as though things are starting to wind down, maybe even be over. He says to his teams, "It might be almost over. Deploy to set three and standby." Following a question over his headset, he replies, "No, it appears to be a draw." He gives yet another look to his damage displays, making a mental note of some power relays that might have to be replaced. "Negative, sir, we have them," Amelia replies, without the usual dispassionate tone that she has when carrying out her duties. Something edges into her voice, sounding as close to blind anticipation as anything she's yet said in her short billet aboard the NRCV Audacity. As the tractor beams buckle at the Emancipator's renewed efforts at escape, another volley from the forward guns is fired, four more brilliant arcs streaking through the stars toward the mirror corvette, illuminating the smaller asteroid debris it passes, remnants from efforts on the part of both ships to avoid being harassed by their foe's fighter complement. Only, it appears it may be too much too late, as fortunately the comm array aboard the Emancipator survived Amelia's earlier efforts, and disregard of orders in doing so, to destroy that particular subsystem.